Remember, Humans Will Never Harm You
by CarnileN
Summary: From peaceful animal to unstoppable monster. In no time the life of a Drago was transformed, by the same creatures he trusted, into the worst nightmare he could have never imagined. Follow the reliving of those horrible events from his own eyes, and understand not only mankind suffered in this world that was bound to change soon.
1. An Excellent Morning

**I think I've never seen a fic about the Mecha-Drago's story, and being one of the most interesting creatures in the game it totally deserves something. The story will cover from the point this chapter starts to the end of chapter 1 in the game... And yes, I named a few of the Dragos.**

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I remember that morning with great memory. The sun was still rising: I could hear a waterfall at the distance, cliff down. Several kinds of birds fought over who was the best singer. It was a soothing moment to hear them taking turns and playing all type of melodies. And even though the heat of the sun was perfect, Maar and I decided to stay under the shadow of a cliff behind us. She was still weak and tired from the recent birth of our baby Drago, Vidri. She was happy, nonetheless; and watching Vidri playing with butterflies, insects, and any other thing that moved provoked a good mood to Maar.

Verdeth, the Drago with whom I grew, had brought his baby Drago as well. I had invited him to join us, and let our baby Dragos play together, along with kids. He declined with a "thanks", for he thought he would better use that day to teach him about the surroundings. His dragonet was younger than Vidri, so I found his reason acceptable. He stayed with his family at the other side of this part of the mountain.

I would have enjoyed a day of resting–since for the last week I have been in charge of the food and any other necessity we required–but today was an important day for Vidri. Alec, the man that lived not far from here had his grandsons visiting him, and mentioned they were going to come to meet Vidri for the first time. I had to teach Vidri about humans.

"Vidri, come here!" I called him.

Vidri was squatting on the ground, silently observing a butterfly feeding itself from a flower. My voice, however, frightened the butterfly away. He made a low growl–the equivalent to a human sigh–as the insect flew to a farther flower, out of Vidri's reach. When he lost the sight of it he hurried over where I was. "I was watching a butterfly!" he whined. "And you made it fly away!"

"Yeah, sorry, you can find another one when I tell you something very important." At the mention of the word "important" his small ears perked up and his eyes grew bigger. "Remember when I told you about the humans? And they were going to visit us to play."

Vidri took a second to recall said information. "Yes, I do."

"Well, they will come at some time today."

"Will I ha-have to fight them?" he asked.

I found his question cute and important to answer, too. "No, of course _no_," I made an emphasis there. "Remember, son, humans will never harm you. They are kind creatures."

Vidri listened attentively as his curiosity on the humans seemed to grow.

"In fact, my friend Alec will bring his two grandsons. And guess what?" I leaned forward making a low growl to let him know I was happy.

"What, what? Tell me," asked his young and playful voice.

"Those two kids love to play. They love insects and running around just like you."

"That is great!" he said.

"However, they are small and fragile," I changed my tone to a more serious one. "They are not Dragos, a simple excessive blow can hurt them more than you can imagine."

He formed a silent "oh" and nodded.

"You will have to treat them like…" I searched for the correct word, one he could understand. "Like butterflies, kids are as fragile as butterflies."

"Okay, I will be careful when playing with them."

"And you should not make loud noises or growl at them," said Maar, who was lying on the ground beside me.

"They will react like the butterfly."

"The butterfly you scared…"

"They also like to play-fight," I recalled that was their favorite game; mostly Claus, the red-haired's favorite game.

"So, I will have to fight them after all," said Vidri.

"No, no. It's like we fake fighting…" It was hard to explain, maybe I can show him. "I will give you a demonstration when they are here."

"Good."The noise of a couple of rabbits playing attracted Vidri's attention. He glanced behind him where the rabbits were. "Can I go?"

"Yes." He got ready to chase the rabbits and hopefully join their game, but I had one more thing to say. "Wait! Remember, they are my friends, and so they will be yours. They only want to play so, give them what they want."

Vidri spent the rest of the noon playing with everything he could find. Maar and I just watched him, amazed by his hyperactivity.

It was when the sun closed its highest point in the sky that I heard a pair of human voices. Alec and Claus, his grandson, entered walking into the plateau. When Vidri first spotted them he rushed to my side, expecting me to tell him something, I guess.

Alec and Claus halted in front us, and said, "Claus, you surely you remember Drago and Maar."

When we first met, Alec never called me by my name. There was no way he could figure it out, so he stuck with a boring name invented by him. The brothers were still learning how to talk and I remember one of the few words they knew was Drago. They were so fascinated when they first saw me that they didn't take time to learn Alec's invented name. In the end the kids grew up calling me by the name they liked: Drago; and everyone else got used to call me like that as well.

"Of course I do!" Claus beamed at us, "I'm so happy to see you again, Dragos."

I gave Vidri a slight poke in his back to introduce him to Alec's grandson.

"And this little one…" said Alec, kneeling to his grandson's height, "Is called Vidri." How did he know his name? I was astonished as to know they knew Maar's name, but I thought of it as a coincidence. But Vidri? The only humans that know his name are those who call themselves Magypsies. Since I met them, they have showed an excellent communication with us. They were the ones who taught me how to understand they language. Maybe they were Alec's friends.

To acknowledge Alec's words I made a low growl.

He took one step toward Vidri and looked at me, as if asking me if he could get close. I growled again, positive to his action.

"This is my grandson, Vidri; he is called Claus, would you like to play with him?"

My son turned to me. "What did he say?"To the humans, however, Vidri just roared. They possibly knew we were communicating, though.

"His grandson's name is Claus, and if you want to play with him."

"Yeah," he said. "I think… I do." Vidri made a gesture humans would have treated as a smile. Vidri started running around Claus. The small human followed the game and started chasing Vidri in no time.

"I will stay here, if you don't mind, Drago," said Alec, taking a sit in a rock nearby. "My daughter and grandsons are leaving soon and I want to make the most out of this time left."

I took a moment to understand the words before growling in a friendly way. Maar, Alec and I stood there, watching our descendants having fun as the time went on.

The sun was already past the top of the sky. Vidri and Claus were lying on the ground watching the flying creatures passing by. It truly amazed me how two utterly different species could get along so well without any exchange of words–at least any exchange of words that the other could understand.

All of a sudden Claus sat up, it attracted Vidri's attention. "I know! I will go for Lucas, then the three of us can play with your dad!"

Vidri stood up and tilted his head, probably wondering what his new friend had just said. I decided to make that clear for my son, "He said he is going to bring his brother to play."

Claus didn't wait for an answer; he sprang to his feet and dashed away, toward Alec's house probably.

Vidri stayed at the same spot for a brief moment until he decided to go and drink water from a puddle nearby.

The kid didn't take much. He came back running. "Luke is coming!" he told Vidri.

Vidri seemed to understand the idea of the last sentence, so I decided not to translate this time.

"Drago, Drago!" shouted Claus, approaching me. "Can we play-fight before Lucas comes? I want to show him how stronger I have gotten."

"Go and have fun," said Maar–with humor in her tone–who still lay on the cold but comfortable ground at the foot of the cliff.

I roared in a low volume accepting the kid's request.

"Awesome," he said. He turned to Vidri and spoke. "Let me do a couple of rounds, then we can play!"

"He said he will play with you after we show you," I told Vidri. He understood and gave me a nod, accompanied by a roar that shared delight.

I walked up to Claus to begin our game. I left a great shadow over the little kid and, while any other human would've run, he stood stood straighter, raising his small fists.

"Check this out, Vidri!" said Claus with an uncontrollable grin. "Ready, Drago?"

I nodded to Claus.

Claus planted his palms on the ground, setting himself ready to run and took a deep breath. He said at last, "Here I go!"

Claus dashed toward me at full speed. He lowered his shoulder and rammed into my exposed stomach. I made sure I didn't put much resistance, that way he couldn't be harmed by my rough hide. Claus stepped back once I let out a loud cry–which they knew it was part of the game–, and then I fell on my side. I opened one eye to see Claus satisfied with his demonstration and I rose again, ready to continue playing.

"And that, Vidri, is how you play-fight." Claus walked around Vidri and patted his head. "It's your turn."

Vidri stepped forward and aligned with me. He tried to mirror Claus' position in an amusing way. It was difficult to fix my eyes on Vidri and not make a funny comment at the same time. He growled and dashed. This time around, when he rammed me the strength between Claus and my son was beyond comparison. I held my body against Vidri's the same manner I did with Claus, so I was pushed back just a bit. Still, Iwent along; I cried and collapsed to the ground.

Vidri was just a dragonet but I knew for sure he would grow strong.

Claus and Vidri kept taking turns to play-fight with me. At some point, Claus suggested to play-fight between Vidri and him. I hesitated and agreed repeating to Vidri he had to be _very _careful. And in spite of Alec and I were different species, I knew through his voice, he was just as nervous I was. We sat alongside each other while the youth ones played. The whole time they played we were uneasy, ready to interfere if needed. However, Vidri followed my recommendations perfectly, and with Claus being careful as well, their playtime was but enjoyable.

Not much time later, Lucas, brother of Claus, came. He walked a bit shyly into the area, probably because of the new Drago, Vidri.

"It was about time, Lucas!" Claus hurried over to Lucas and pushed the boy up to us. Claus introduced Vidri with his two arms opened toward my son, "This is… Vidri! I told you he was cute!"

"Hey, Vidri." Lucas' timid expression soon turned into a smile, "Hello, Drago. Hello, Maar, I missed you!"

Fortunately, Lucas and Claus and their parents have visited Alec since the kids were still babies, and hence they've learned to live around us and neither of them have ever been scared as any other human would.

"Whew, Lucas, I'm beat. I'm sure you wanna play-fight–I've been playing with them all morning. Here, try ramming into Drago."

At the mention of me, I growled. Lucas stood there with a finger in his mouth and the way he looked at me told me he was clueless. Alec noticed this and said, "It's been a long time since Lucas played like this with the Dragos. Lucas! Try to imagine… No, that won't do." He addressed the other kid, "Claus! Show him an example!"

And Claus did as told. He got ready, rammed into me, I fell and Claus grinned.

"Now it's your turn, Lucas!" Alec gave the boy a nod. "Just relax and do it!"

"Ok," Lucas aligned with me and got ready to make his attempt.

Lucas executed it perfectly. Well, almost… I held my body as loose as possible. When the boy hit me, he bounced back a bit; at the point I thought I shall fall, Lucas tripped over something and fell face-first. I did my best to evade crushing the boy and so I smashed the ground just beside him. His shocked face was covered in dirt.

Lucas chuckled nervously, "Heh… Whew… that was close."

I didn't have to interfere much more after that. Claus, Lucas and Vidri kept playing by themselves for quite some time. I remember watching they play energetically for some time, and the next one they stood in a circle observing the ground. It was a mole cricket, who almost seemed as if it was talking with them. I think it almost bit (I don't know exactly what harm these insects could do, though, or if they bite)Claus because he suddenly kicked it away.

Hinawa, mother of Claus and Lucas and daughter of Alec, showed up. As she walked towards us, she glanced back at the ground saying, "I stepped on a mole cricket. I hope it's all right…"

She approached Vidri giving him a gentle smile. "This must be the baby Drago, Claus was talking about."

"His name is Vidri, Mom!" said Claus.

"Well, glad to meet you, Vidri," she petted Vidri, for which he succumbed with a friendly growl. "Congratulations to you two for having such a cute, little Drago."

This time Maar responded with a growl. She was happy to have Alec's family visiting us. It was a long time since they last came.

Then she turned to her family. "Lunch is ready, everyone. I made you your favorite, boys. Omelets!"

"Oh! Lunch, lunch! Omelets!" Claus bounced up and down as he spoke. He was about to run off but he glanced back at us. "Bye Drago, Maar. Let's play some other time, Vidri! See ya!" And with that he was gone.

"It was fun, Drago. See you later, Vidri and Maar," said Lucas and followed his brother.

"Come on, dad," said Hinawa. She leaned closer to us, "I will be sure to bring you something before leaving," she winked and walked away.

"And I will make sure to add some for little Vidri!" Alec scratched Vidri behind his ear and then continued, "Thanks for playing with my boys– Wait…" He looked over to where Claus, Lucas and Hinawa left, "You saved me some Omelets, too? I hope!"

I watched the family until they were gone from my sight and I said, "So, how was it, Vidri?" When I received no response I looked back at Vidri. Of course; he was at the other side playing with Verdeth's baby running about, just as energetically as when he rose this morning.


	2. Longest Trip Back Home

As Hinawa promised, later in the morning, she, alongside her children brought us a good amount of food. Besides the fact that Maar and I wouldn't end up full with what Hinawa gave us, it was kind from her to let us taste the delicious food she had. Vidri, for example, was surprised when the flavor filled his mouth. He said he was eager to come again so this would hopefully repeat.

Once they left and we finished our meal, I decided it was time to go back home. Verdeth and his family joined us as we made our way through the mountain.

We followed the everyday path, and yet it always had new things to show us. That time a kind of bird I had never seen before crossed our path. It flew up to a tree branch, and reposed there near a nest; at the same time, baby birds poked their small heads out of the nest, their beaks opened wide and their cries a cacophony of hungriness. We walked at a slow pace, and I had time to stop and see of I could remember that kind of bird.

Soon Vidri joined me asking, "What is that bird?"I didn't know its name, no matter how many times I revised its description: its plumage was mainly several tones of blue, with touches of black and white, like in his head. Incredible as it looked, I could never remember its name.

"I have no idea at all, Vidri."

"Okay," he said nonchalantly. For Vidri, observing the bird was apparently enough.

After that he went to the back of our group to see Verdeth's dragonet. A moment passed, and then I heard Verdeth calling me, "Wait, I think they have a different plan." He turned to both dragonets that were now in the bank of a river about to enter the water.

"We no longer have command over our own sons," I say.

"Agree."

We went near the river to keep an eye on the dragonets. There still was sunlight left; some time here will do no harm.

As always, whenever I am in an open area, exposed, I stay alert to spot any dangers. This proved to be useful, for there was a time, just a few days after Vidri was born, when a rock lizard–as I called them–, a type of reptile that camouflages as a stone, nearly got a grab on Vidri. I had to pounce over it to prevent its coward attempt on Vidri. I nearly killed it.

Both dragonets were playing in the water, catching the occasional fish; Verdeth and his couple were resting besides the river; and Maar had just walked out of the water. I was the loneliest one at that moment. I sat at the opposite side of Verdeth's, attentively watching the other side of the river. The bushes had moved in a suspicious way, but what caused inquietude was the white blur I saw hiding there. It looked human. The bushes moved again. This time the image was clearer. Whoever was behind them was watching us. The human revealed his face for an instant. Though its features did not look human; its face was completely white, its eyes were hollow, empty, without any color or expression, and the location of the mouth was similar to a snout. Somehow, it reminded me of the features of a pig.

I fixed my stare on it, watching its every move. Some eerie feeling was telling me to take Vidri, Maar and tell the others to leave. But I was not going to say a human made me nervous. If anything, it should have been the other way around. At the end, I knew I was not staying here under the suspicious stare of a human.

I took the decreasing sunlight as an excuse, "It is getting late. The sun will soon hide; we should leave while there is light."

"We have some time before it hides. Besides, what is the matter if the night arrives?" Verdeth says.

"There are various hostile animals around; most of them have a better sight than us."

"But," Raia, Verdeth's couple, couple speaks up, "We are six Dragos. No one is a match for us. Everyone knows that."

"I... I am tired as well. I would prefer to arrive home as soon as possible," hopefully saying that will convince them. Maar casted me a suspicious look.

"He is right. It is for the dragonets' own good; they could use a rest after playing non-stop for the entire day."

Verdeth could not counter that. He said, "Alright, besides I think I have not seen them sit today... It is time to go!" The dragonets were reluctant at first but they soon obeyed.

Vidri joined me, while Tyroth, Verdeth's son, joined him. The sun had begun hiding behind the mountains. Normally, we would be home at that time, enjoying the last rays of heat warming our body for the cold night ahead. But that day, there was a long stretch ahead before we arrived to our plateau. Throughout the trek I could not shake the feeling of being observed. I had not seen a human like that before, so I suppose it is normal to be suspicious of new things; add the fact I was with Vidri.

The perfect recipe to make any father nervous.

Maybe I was the only one to notice the strange behavior of the animals in the surroundings. I first thought about this when a boar appeared. It was running toward us. Its head moved furiously in every which way as if something was chasing it. Vidri instantly hid behind me. Maar planted its feet besides me to block the boar's path. When it came closer I saw its eyes: it was bewildered, scared. The boar didn't care if we attacked him or if it collided with us, it just wanted to escape from whatever monster the boar crossed paths with. I was going to roar at the animal when it finally saw us. The boar skidded and evaded us. Once it passed us, it hightailed away raising dust behind it. An instant later, two more boars went past us, their frantic cries left the dragonets visible uneasy.

"That was strange," Maar said. She stood closer to the dragonets.

I took a moment to think what Maar said. What had just happened? I realized something was wrong in the moment we were going to climb a small cliff. I looked down, at the forest, to see it was a whole different world. The animals stampeded about in the forest, colliding with one another, tearing down trees and undergrowth, with their panicked pace. It was very unsettling to see this along a cacophony of cries ranging from boars to birds and deer.

Soon we started to climb the next section of the mountain. Verdeth's family went first, followed by Maar, Vidri and at last me.

"Climb faster," I commanded Vidri. He accelerated his pace even though this part of the climb was difficult. I kept an eye on his back in case he needed help.

I looked down again. What is happening? Then, I think I accidently summoned the reason of this chaos.

An explosion shook the earth below us. Animals' cries were instantly drowned by a powerful boom. Not only did I lose my balance for a moment, but my whole body shivered while the boom burst into my ears. At the same time I heard a young cry... Vidri!

I shook off the dazedness left by the explosion and looked for Vidri. A few rocks slid down from the cliff. I gave a massive leap forward to land as close to Vidri as possible. I sank my claws into the rocks to stop my descent. I didn't notice it at first but I was two, almost three drago-lengths from the ground. I stuck out my head just in time. Vidri came falling from above and was barely redirected by my head toward a solid rock. He landed clumsily and said, "Thanks... That was close." Indeed it was.

Finally, Vidri and I arrived at the top of the cliff. Maar promptly licked him in the face. No words came out from her; just an aura of concern and relief. We hadn't resumed our pace when another explosion shook us. This time we all toppled to the ground rather harshly. My sight turned blurry as my head bounced on the ground. A few rocks penetrated my face's hide and sunk down causing a sharp pain. But I didn't have time to suffer. I got to my feet and helped Vidri.

Maar soon joined us, "This is bad..." she trailed off, her gaze was directed somewhere else. I looked back, to the edge of the cliff. A vivid red coming from below had replaced the darkness of the night. I braced myself should another explosion were to happen, and carefully walked over to the edge.

The red enemy of any living creature. Fire. It was growing in the only way it could, consuming the lush green our beautiful forest was made of. Bounding from treetop to treetop, the fire took over every tree, trunk, and even any animal caught off guard. The fire continued, no matter who was its victim, it was consumed and used to increase the red enemy wildly. Without control.

I had to look away. Indeed, the cries below hammered my conscience each time, but now I had to take Maar and Vidri safe back home. I did not hesitate, "Maar, keep Vidri close! Let us go Verdeth!"

"The forest is on fire. That is not impossible. But the explosions. Where did they come from?" Verdeth asked.

"If only I knew."

The night was already over us by the time we were traveling back. Still, it only seemed to get darker when suspicious noises reached my ears. The rustling of bushes and the sound of something running made me alert. That something running, the noise it did, resembled the rhythm of a man running. Like when Lucas or Claus run. Not only that, but the manner this creature paced was strange. It was very loud. As if it was stomping the ground with each step. And then I found out I was not the only one aware of that. Verdeth looked left and right, but did not find anything either.

"We have to go faster..." I whispered to Maar.

"You hear them too?" she asked.

After that, the trip back was calmer. Thankfully we soon arrived at the area where our plateau was.

I could see our cave from here already. So relieving.

However, the area was calmer than it should be; no wandering trees, no eagles, no titanians. That was very unusual. A bad sign.

It was obviously pointed out by Verdeth, "No one is around. What could have happened?"

"Hopefully nothing. This ought to be a coincidence," I respond.

And Maar adds, "Keep your eyes open, nonetheless." I will, Maar, I will.

And like I feared, the sound of rocks crushed under feet arrived to my ears. We had visitors.

Verdeth and I instantly stepped to the front, making ourselves known with a pair of furious stomps.

Then the rustling of a bush came from behind. Vidri jumped and he emitted a tiny whimper.

Maar and Verdeth's couple covered the dragonets from the back. No one was going to take Dragos by surprise.

We roared when something moved before us. Four masked men clad in white jumped out of a rock. They carried long, black objects, which were pointed at us. I heard more coming out of their hiding places. A glance confirmed five more in Maar's side.

Meanwhile, in the center of our formation, Vidri and Tyroth shivered in fear. Poor creatures, their scared whimpers made me feel more furious toward these humans in white.

I roared louder than any other creature could have done. Though I stood firm without moving forward.

"We have to get the others out of here!" Verdeth told me. I know that, Verdeth, but tell me how.

"The bigger one is the one we are looking for! Feel free to do anything with the others!"

A shiver travelled down my spine as the man shouted. I was slightly bigger than Verdeth… But what I feared the most were his last words "feel free to do anything with the others." Maar… Vidri….

"They want me," I said to Verdeth. "Stay near me and they will not harm you. Or let me distract them; you take the others to the plateau."

"Do not know. For now we shall gain some terrain. Follow us slowly," Verdeth said and the others complied.

In that moment I heard a tiny whisper from Vidri, "I, I… am scared. We did not do anything wrong." The tone of my son made me want to lunge toward each one of the men here. Watch them fall down the cliff, away from my family.

We all moved closer to advance forward. One man tried to approach from the right, but Verdeth quickly scared him off with a mighty roar, each one of his sharp teeth bare. Another man wanted to come closer from the back, for which Maar roared powerfully.

There was a moment of silence in which I could hear the nervous gulp of a man. He was nervous. I could almost smell his fear; smell the blood that would be shed if he approached my family.

Maybe we could scare them off.

"Sir, should we open fire? Our King ordered us to act swiftly," a man whispered.

"What does that m-mean?" Vidri was the bold one to ask that.

"It cannot be good." I glanced to my both sides. The piece of land we were standing on was rather narrow; probably a few drago-lengths from left to right. That could prove useful for us. We could stampede the men in front of us to break their formation. Maar and Raia may cover us from the sides, and, if we are fast enough the men in the back will not be able to catch us. "Listen. We have to act fast. Verdeth and I charge against the two men in front of us. You four will follow us quickly. If any of them approach from the side you hit them hard. If you have to shove them off the edge so be it. They started this."

"Now!" Verdeth cried.

As soon as Verdeth I and moved several bangs resonated. Bright flashes came from the black objects the men carried. I lost count of the amount of bangs after five. Whatever they did, it affected Verdeth. He roared and stumbled to one side, but did not fall.

"Come on, Vidri, behind me!"

It had turned worst. I was now the division between these men and Vidri. One of them got too close to me. Vidri warned me in time. I lashed out with my head and sent him flying off the edge. An instant after I got rid of that man, a piercing pain appeared in various part of my body. My head, side, back. I shook it off, however. Raia needs help.

Verdeth's son had been wounded in his little leg (I suspect it was the objects the men had; those "flashers").

Both, son and mother were cornered between the abysm cliff-down and three men pointing their flashers at them.

"Maar!" whimpered the bleeding dragonet behind his mother.

The time went slow when I saw Maar going to the rescue of Verdeth's family. She surprised two men ramming into them. However, the third man had an extra moment to notice the giant green blur eliminating his partners. He raised his flasher and two bangs came out of it before Maar tore his torso with a massive bite. She skidded and toppled to the ground almost falling off the edge. I would have gone to help her but the two Dragos she saved were on their way to help Maar.

Five men remained. It felt cruel to kill the same species that Alec, Lucas or Claus belonged to, but this was clearly an exception. They could understand that. Flint would have done the same to protect his family.

A painful bellow attracted my attention to Verdeth. Three men were surrounding him. He needed me in that moment. I realized that when I saw the splatters of the red fluid tainting his dark-green hide.

"The big one is approaching!" a man at Verdeth's right shouted as I came charging.

Before one of them could react I crushed him with my tail. Under me I heard the cracking of his bones. I tried to ignore the eerie shiver that invaded my body and continued. Verdeth shifted his focus to the man that had shouted. He gazed the man with blood-thirsty eyes, similar to those of a lion when it had not eaten in days. Verdeth lifted one of his feet and just before he annihilated the man, he used his flasher to spread pain in Verdeth's foot. Verdeth groaned but crushed the man. Verdeth's trail was now marked by a horrifying red mark.

The last man standing was facing the death before him, two outraged Dragos. The man's attention shifted between Verdeth and me several times. He dropped his flasher… Was he surrendering? Just now? Oh. He is not surrendering. He takes out another smaller object–gray and black–and points it at me. Five consecutive stings shock me. Verdeth does not give the man one last breathing. He pounced forward, his giant claws ready. The sharp set of claws ripped the man's whole body, head, torso and legs. He fell backwards with a huge trio of gashes in his motionless body.

"We have to leave. Now!" I had not advanced more than a few drago-lengths when something happened.

Verdeth's leg gave up. He was obliged to take a resting position. Looking behind our group, his eyes opened wide. "Vidri!"

I spun around just in time to witness a man smacking Vidri with his flasher. Vidri… I did not take notice he was lagging behind. And I also calculated the amount of men wrong. They were nine. I missed the one that just hit Vidri. Coward meatbag. "Go on. I am going back for Vidri!" I called the others.

But they simply stopped dead on their tracks.

"Ah…" Maar was about to say something. Then I heard an annoying squeal. Six humans were trotting cliff up. They were going to catch up with us in a moment.

"Let us go for Vidri!" Verdeth grunted.

Maar did not even say a word. She was warning the humans with a powerful roar.

But what about Tyroth and Raia? I tell her, "Go back to the plateau. Fast. Get your dragonet to a safer place. We will be there in a moment."

"We stay here." Then both, mother and son stood a little farther from the battlefield.

I watched for a moment how Vidri was being taken away by that white pest. Verdeth was fighting the obvious pain. He was clearly suffering. I swear I could almost feel the pain as well. It hurt me inside to see Verdeth like that. At the same time I felt protected by Verdeth. Just look at him. He does not seem to care about his wounds. He wants to help Vidri come back safe.

Then Maar, she was leading our small team with a fierce roar and the uproar of her feet cracking the ground below her.

Furious with these humans that destroyed our mutual trust, I followed the pace of my partner in creating a stampede these men, if smart which I doubt after attacking us, should escape from.

In an act of bravery, Vidri took advantage of his attacker's distraction and bit him in the leg. Vidri cried and ran away as fast as he can. We–Maar and I, and Verdeth behind–are about to catch up with Vidri when the men start using their flashers. Verdeth falls forward, his head sinking on the ground. Maar tries zigzagging what ever they are doing but fails. Her whimper comes to me like a blow to my chest. She stumbles and falls too. Oddly enough, I do not receive pain from their flashers, only several more stings in my hide.

I smashed Vidri's pursuer, plus one of the men that used his flasher. At that point I had not understood why they were not attacking me; however, I was not going to complain about it. In time I breathed in the men spread out and I knew they were surrounding us. It was time to escape.

Luckily, Verdeth and Maar were on their feet again. "Maar, take Vidri! We are withdrawing. Tell Verdeth's family. We will cover your back. Hurry!"

Alongside each other, Verdeth and I almost covered the narrow pathway. Verdeth's family and mine broke into a desperate run as if the lava of a volcano was menacing them. Why lava? Because that is one of the only things that will make a Drago run.

We had left all humans lagging behind by several drago-lenghts. We were going to live tonight.

Something was suddenly wrong. I felt an icy sensation growing in my legs. It was as if they were not there. That odd feeling when you do not move a limb for a great amount of time. It seems gone. That icy torture extended throughout my body, leaving me with an inescapable weariness of several nights without rest. But that was not true. Was my body tricking me? Why now? was the real question. I lost control of my lower section, my arms were gone apparently; even worse I did not feel my tail that always serves as a way to warn about the unseen behind me. That sense was gone too. The need of closing my eyes in the spot battled against the unrelenting will of a Drago. But the battle was soon over. My legs crumbled below me as I fell on the harsh rock. Nothing protected my face, only the thick hide that, with each moment of this battle, was weakened by now. The only vision of the world was from below, from the ground. The gaze of a dying animal that was watching its prey towering above it with the eyes of hunger just before the unavoidable ending. That was me.

I could only observe Verdeth skid to a halt as he shouted, "Wait! He has fallen!"

Mothers and sons halted their run.

I could not look back but I knew the humans were very close. Their powerful stomps in an incredibly organized rhythm told me. In Verdeth's expression I saw doubt. Stay with your comrade and fight or escape and protect your family. "Go…" I whispered with almost nonexistent energy.

"Carry on!" Verdeth screamed to the others. They hesitated, only giving a few steps in the opposite direction. In the direction of home.

I gave Maar that decisive look. It said: It is okay, go. You two come first. She seemed to understand, whispered something to Verdeth's family and poked Vidri on the back signaling him to continue.

A roar came from my left. It was Verdeth letting everyone know he was willing to fight the humans. I witnessed the fluid movement of his feet, a flasher that had hit the ground, and two fallen men who were crushed without any mercy an instant later.

My willpower could not battle against the need to close my eyes. Everything looked darker from now on.

And then a heartrending roar filled the area. It was Verdeth. He was not only wounded, but dangerously close to the edge. Verdeth… Verdeth… Watch out… The words did not come out. Someone grabbing me from behind distracted me for a moment. The humans had grabbed me by the tail and started pulling me away.

The whole world froze when one last flash filled my eyesight before Verdeth struggled to stay in balance. It was impossible. All his weight was put on a fragile rock. The rock shattered. He clawed the solid cliff in a futile attempt to stop his fall. He resisted and opposed the next event. But there was no come back. Another deafening roar happened as Verdeth fell off the edge. The surroundings sunk into silence.

"Get him, get him! Let's take… it…!" the voice of a man shouting trailed off. I could not stay awake another moment.

Except for something. Verdeth's family stood there, frozen, observing the tragedy. Maar leaned toward them. She whispered something…

The humans were dragging me away.

The four Dragos shot one last glance in my direction. They gave a couple of steps backwards with their eyes set on me (even from here it was easy to notice the stiffness in their movements). They turned around visibly hesitating. And with no more words, they disappeared into the protection of the darkness.


End file.
